Funding cuts threaten legal services for at-risk Atlantans
Free legal services already struggling to meet the demands of Atlanta’s most vulnerable residents are under threat after the federal government wiped out funding for initiatives that address housing insecurity and domestic abuse.
The Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation recently lost several multiyear grants from the Department of Justice — worth about $800,000 annually — for its family violence work. The nonprofit’s lawyers and social workers help abuse victims file protective orders, find safe housing and rebuild their lives in other ways.
AVLF Executive Director Michael Lucas said the DOJ’s funding cuts were a second blow after he was forced to cut staff because the Department of Housing and Urban Development discontinued an eviction prevention grant worth around $1 million annually.
“This is unlike anything I’ve seen before,” said Lucas, who has been at the AVLF for 16 years and doing nonprofit and public interest legal work for more than two decades.
Lucas said he anticipated there would be some belt-tightening and reduced federal funding for “safety net services” during President Donald Trump’s second term in office. But he said he hoped that wouldn’t affect traditionally nonpartisan issues like domestic violence, for which the DOJ had long provided funding to the AVLF.
Instead, the DOJ rejected the largest of the nonprofit’s funding applications for its family abuse work on the first day of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Lucas said. He said the AVLF sought to renew a three-year grant of $900,000 through the DOJ’s Legal Assistance for Victims Program, in which it had been a strong performer.
Around the same time, just before the federal government shut down, the DOJ also rejected two other AVLF funding applications, Lucas said. He said he’s not optimistic about a fourth application pending before the DOJ, seeking $450,000 over three years.
Representatives for the DOJ and HUD did not immediately respond to questions about the grants.
Lucas said the federal funding he has received this year has come indirectly, through Georgia’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. He said he’s been trying to reduce the nonprofit’s expenses and find alternative sources of funding for its domestic violence work, so he doesn’t have to further cut staff or services.
The AVLF has about 55 employees, after a “small reduction in force” because of the loss in HUD funding this year, Lucas said. He added the federal government’s grant rejections haven’t come with an explanation, though he knows the AVLF isn’t alone.
In April, the federal government axed almost 400 DOJ grants worth around $820 million, the Council on Criminal Justice reported.
At its height, before the change in administration, federal funding made up about a third of the AVLF’s budget, Lucas said. He said contributions from private philanthropists and other supporters — typically about $1.5 million annually — remain steady, although they likely won’t match what has been lost in federal funding.
“I think there’s an awareness that this is a tough time for nonprofits,” he said. “It’s certainly an unprecedented level of uncertainty. We expect, unfortunately, for it to get worse.”
Atlanta Legal Aid Society Executive Director Rita Sheffey said Trump has proposed slashing the main source of her federal funding — the Congress-funded Legal Services Corp. She said it provided almost a third of the nonprofit’s $17.3 million in revenue for 2025.
“I am cautiously optimistic and confident we will be funded, but the question is at what level,” she said in regards to 2026. “We currently serve nearly 21,000 people annually, and many more people need our services, but we already do not have sufficient resources to assist them.”
A representative for the Georgia Legal Services Program said it hasn’t lost any federal funding this year, but is closely watching the government’s budgeting process for next year.
Sheffey and Lucas said Legal Aid is being threatened at a time when people’s need for it is increasing, due in part to the rising cost of living and associated problems with domestic abuse and homelessness.
“Cuts in federal funding limit our ability to provide vital wraparound services that keep our clients safe, stable and free of their abusers,” Sheffey said. “We need our loyal supporters and donors more than ever and seek to cast a wider net to inspire new donors.”
About the Author
Journalist Rosie Manins is a legal affairs reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
